Do you ever buy a licensed DVD? Every time I see a pic for your title, it's from some crappy bootleg DVD cover.

Maybe you just grab whatever pops up on google images, but it reflects poorly on you when you advertise your podcast that way.

As for Kite and other Hentai-action series. The only guy that really pulls it off and gets away with it is Umetsu, with the possible exception of Ohbari. Kite is really good in spite of the hentai, where just about every other one has nothing more to offer. Even Urotsukudoji fell apart after the second movie.

While I usually put down Moe, I've admitted to partaking in some myself, Kite and just about anything from Umetsu, Murata, and Ohbari are my exceptions. While I'll admit to some hypocrisy, I'll add that the works of Umetsu clearly show that it's wrong and don't try to hide it.

I'd venture that it's less moe and more fan service since the girls are still very womanly and the events in their life all but killed any kind of childhood they had left, and they always get revenge on the person that did this to them as well as others.

If the hentai puts you off, both Kite and Mezzo have edited versions that are just as good, and their follow-ups don't contain any hentai at all.

Duke: So on the image, I did buy the legitimate DVD back in the day, which is how I knew how to complain about it being censored. Like Andrew said, I chose the image I did because I could not find the official Japanese one and I refused to use the American cover because it has the title wrong. It's not Kite, it's A Kite. If you can point me at the Japanese cover I'll gladly use that.

I frequently use movie posters and other images instead of DVD covers when I do not like the American DVD cover, like I did on Shogun Assassin. And not only did I buy Shogun Assassin, I bought the first Lone Wolf & Cub movie to compare it to.

As much as I like Oobari, I don't really think he can make it work like Umetsu. Virus Buster Serge sucks, Gowcaizer sucks... I love Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, but the OAVs are crap.

I'd say Overfiend is more HORROR than action, but it certainly falls apart and gets dull.

I don't think A Kite is moe. That "oh you need to rescue this doe-eyed girl" thing is NOT there. She rescues herself and kills everyone. She's not doe-eyed. She's jaded and damaged and a cold-blooded killer. She's also not drawn like a 5 year old.

Like I said in the podcast, if you are watching edited A Kite, you are not seeing it. You can watch edited Mezzo Forte and lose nothing.

My one disagreement is the comment on "people who don't deserve to die, do in tragedy." I felt everyone deserved to die in Hamlet and that's the quintessential tragedy.

Anyway, I watched A Kite this morning and I wasn't really creeped out I just felt hallow. Umetsu Anime tends to make me feel hollow anyway, even his Tatsunoko OAV's. His character designs convey some odd kind of coldness to it.

So are yall doing a gala review of Macross Frontier after the final episode later this week?

As for Umetsu, obviously A Kite was intended to be cold. When Sawa is staring off, blank-faced after getting raped, that's a pretty expected reaction.

In general terms, since Umetsu's characters are not as exaggerated as most anime characters, they feel less emotional than most. No Umetsu character's eyes swell up to immense proportions and then wobble like a tear is trying to escape their gigantic depths the way they do in most anime, especially 80's Mikimoto style anime.

This is less an issue of Umetsu anime being emotionally hollow and more an issue of people being too used to "standard" anime style characters.

Have you seen Megazone 23 Part 2? That is not ice cold the way A Kite is, and I think the characters' faces act believeably. Especially check out Shogo reacting to his girlfriend being seriously wounded.

She was close to not deserving it, but her devotion to Hamlet more or less damned her in my eyes. To me in Hamlet death was more a resolution and I never felt bad about the ending (especially in the Mel Gibson movie, haha). It made me feel numb but the end relieved me where as A Kite made me numb well past the ending credits. Other things have made me feel worse but A Kite just gave me a numb but not blah feeling if that makes any sense.

I hope that's Umetsu's intent and not his ineptitude to convey emotion. Of course intentional would make him Harmony Korine's soulmate. haha

Going outside of the "standard anime style" doesn't bother me so much, hell, it's almost a plus to me now. But Umetsu designs just have the hallow/numbing effect on me.

I haven't seen Megazone 23 Part 2 in like 10 years. I couldn't get into it back then since I loved Part 1 so much, maybe it's about time I try it again.

Anyways, I think Episode 25 of Macross F is going to make me curse out-load or cheer or train a pack of lolis to hunt and kill Kawamori.

I got a copy of the Kite special edition with all the bits left in. Only made to about the ten minute mark but hell, I'm not exactly happy to find out what happens next. Not in a "I'm bored" way but it's just nobody seems to be winning.

Also Mike gets verbally beaten up worse than usual. Does he go into every show thinking he's going to get respect? How does he bring himself to answer the latest email from Jer?
"Hey Mike! Do you wanna come over and record something with me and Zuey?"

"I dunno, are you gonna give me a break this time?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. That could happen. We live in a strange and wonderful world, ya know?"

"Hey, wait a minute. Did you say Zuey is going to be there?"

"Yep."

"Ah, crap."

Zuey doesn't need to post pics of herself for me to stalk her. My seething obsession with her is enough to sustain me. Couldn't not help, that said.

If I didn't feel like my contributions were valued (or at least taken seriously before rejection) then I wouldn't even be there.

Like I said on the podcast and elsewhere...I think that the issue at hand is just that Jeremy liked the ending, and I really did not. I have what I feel are valid reasons for disliking it; Jeremy has equally-valid reasons for liking it.

Going outside of the "standard anime style" doesn't bother me so much, hell, it's almost a plus to me now. But Umetsu designs just have the hallow/numbing effect on me.

I haven't seen Megazone 23 Part 2 in like 10 years. I couldn't get into it back then since I loved Part 1 so much, maybe it's about time I try it again.

I know how you feel. It's a tad hard getting use to the jump in designs in that second one, but the story and action alone makes up for that shift I felt (still miss the first OAV's designs none the less).